Friday, October 28, 2011

From Drazil's Blog it's BYOC (Bring Your Own Crazy) A couple of questions we answer to get to know each other better and to give our blogging brains a break. Copy to your own blog and enjoy!

This week my questions are going to themed…as in they are all about blogging and just to throw you off – there are more than 5 this time!!

1. When did you begin blogging? Do you plan to do it a long time or do you think you’ll stop after a while?

I began blogging in July when I started the Jenny Craig weight loss program. I hope to switch to "The Suburban Mom" as opposed to "Fat in Suburbia" after I reach my weight loss goal. Maintaining my goal weight will always be a challenge for me so I'll always have something to blog about.

2. What do you enjoy more - blogging yourself or reading other’s blogs?

I love reading other people's blogs and commenting. I also love getting ideas from others.

4. Have you met any other bloggers in real life – solely because of your blog or theirs?

No but Laura Belle at Beer, Dogs and Getting Healthier lives close by so maybe someday.

5. Does your blog have a general theme as in one topic or do you cover everything and anything?

Yes my weight loss but I love to do get to know you things like BYOC.

6. Are you public or anonymous? Whichever you are – do you ever wish you were the other?

I'm anonymous. I do wish I was public so that my followers knew who they were commenting to and reading about. I sometimes feel disconnected.

7. What’s your best blogging advice for a new blogger?

Network, network, network. Comment on other blogs and the traffic to your blog will come. Be sincere and kind when commenting.

8. Does anyone in your real life read your blog/know it’s address? Do you wish they would or wouldn’t?

Only 2 of my best friends do but I'm not sure they read it. They too are trying to lose weight and they are now the only people in the world that aren't at JC or my doctor;s office that know my weight.

9. Do you enjoy blogging or do you view it as a chore? How often do you blog?

I enjoy it and try to blog a few times every week. I'm getting into a groove and have things I blog about Monday through Friday.

10. Do you tell people in your real life that you blog? Or keep it a secret?

I read this on Waisting Time yesterday but I had already done a blog post for the day so here goes my food ABC's.

A is for Apple: What’s your favorite variety?
My favorite is Red Delicious.

B is for Bread: Regardless of nutrition, what is your favorite type?
I love bread. My favorite is probably a loaf of french bread with Italian food and lots of butter. Warm and soft on the inside and a crispy crust.

C is for Cereal: What is your favorite kind currently?
I love cereal especially Lucky Charms!

D is for Donuts: You might not currently eat them, but what kind do you fancy?
Long Johns with lots of whipped cream in the center.

H: is for Hot Beverages: What is your favorite hot drink?
Hot chocolate.

I is for Ice Cream: Pick a favorite flavor and add a fun topping.
Ben & Jerry's Phish Food. I don't need to add a topping because it's in there-chocolate ice cream with marshmallow, caramel and chocolate fish. Yum.

J is for Jams or Jellies: Do you eat them? If so, what kind and flavor?
I rarely eat them and when I do it's grape.

K is for Kashi: Name your favorite Kashi product?
I've never tried a Kashi product.

L is for Lunch: What was yours today?
Jenny Criag's Cheesy Chicken. It's fried chicken pieces over mashed potatoes, corn, peas and cheese and I add Broccoli for One to it. Very good.

M is for microwave: What is your favorite microwave meal/snack?
I microwave everything, seriously.

N is for nutrients: Do you likes carbs, fats, or proteins best?
Unfortunately it's carbs. I love carbs. LOVE.

O is for oil: What kind do you like to use?
I try not to use it so I guess boring cooking oil.

P is for protein: How do you get yours?
I'm on Jenny Craig and the meals include a protein usually.

Q is for Quaker: How do you like your oats?
Cinnamon Roll. It's the only kind I'll eat.

R is for roasting: What is your favorite thing to roast?
Turkey. I love Thanksgiving.

Monday, October 24, 2011

From Never Growing Old it's Meet Me on Monday, a blog hop where we get to know each other better.

Questions:

1. My favorite kind of animal is _______? Domestic is a dog, wild would be a manatee.

2. Do you like your handwriting? No, it's gotten really bad as my Fibromyalgia has progressed. I hate to even sign checks and it's really bad when I have to sign one of those credit card thingies at a store!

3. What is the last movie you saw? We rarely go to the theater so I think it was Grown Ups.

4. Do you buy things on eBay? Yes when I need something, most recently a power cord for my laptop.

5. What did you have for lunch yesterday? A Jenny Craig Stuffed Chicken Sandwich, it's one of my favorite meals on JC, yum.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Mini me was off school yesterday and the hubby took a day of vacation and the whole family (including college boy) went shopping and out to lunch. As usual mini me cleaned up and got quite a bit at American Eagle, college boy got some pants for the upcoming wedding we're going to and me and the hubby got contact solution. Yes contact solution. We live an exciting life.

We had lunch at j. Alexanders. I believe this is a national chain. We had never been and were not impressed. Although the portions were huge the prices were also huge and the food was just average at best. Thumbs down.

If I get motivated today we're going to a holiday mart at the KC Convention Center. I can't believe I'm going to Christmas shop this early.

We might go and see Footloose tonight. I heard it's pretty good and of course the original is an 80's classic from my teen years so I am looking forward to it. College boy said he'd go just to see Julliane Hough.

I haven't stepped on the scale since weigh in on Wednesday but I've been 97% on plan so I expect a loss this week.

I haven't exercised one time this week. My new shoes still have the tags on them because I haven't worked out in weeks. WEEKS.

I need my hair highlighted. I used Clairol's Root Touch Up and it helped. I was surprised at how good the product worked. Thumbs up.

The weather in MO is crazy right now. It was freezing early in the week now it's going up to the low 70's this weekend and in the 80's by mid-week then on Thursday back down to a high of low 40's. Can you say asthma issues for mini me? *sigh*

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The results are in and I gained .2 pounds this week. Whew,I was up like 3 pounds the other day so I'll take the ,2 lbs. I have a lot of work to do to get back on track. I fully expect a big loss next week and have warned my family not to tempt me with anything this week.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

From the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans it's yet another installment of True Confession Tuesday. Here we go...

I Confess...that I have had a really craptastic 2 weeks food-wise. Some of the things I've had include McDonald's hamburgers and fries, A fantabulous cookie sundae with the kids at my favorite restaurant, Panera brownies and chicken fingers.

I Confess...that I stepped on the scale yesterday to show a 3 fricking pound gain since Wednesday's weigh in.

I Confess...that the gain is entirely my fault and the 2 weeks of piss poor eating have caught up to me.

I Confess...that I have no right to whine or complain about said weight gain because in reality I could have made healthy choices every time I ate out and off plan instead of choosing gooey wonderful desserts and other crap.

I Confess...that I haven't read any 'days' from 100 Days of Weight Loss for several days. It got a bit boring around day 15 and I lost my motivation. I'm going to read today's chapter after I write this post.

I Confess...that I am so sick of softball and glad it's over for the Fall season (except for practices in preparation for the Spring). Mini me's team came in 2nd in their last tournament and got another big honkin trophy but it was a very long and boring weekend of 5 games.

I Confess...that I was majorly envious of the skinny mom in the super cute t-shirt that sat close to me at one of the games. I remember being the skinny mom and wearing the cute t-shirt.

I Confess...that now that softball is over I have no excuse for not getting back on plan and eating my Jenny Craig meals. NO EXCUSE so kick my behind if I don't post a big loss next week at weigh in.

Monday, October 17, 2011

From Never Growing Old (the over 40's blog) it's Meet Me on Monday where we answer 5 questions to get to know each other better and to blog hop and check out some new ones.

Questions:

1. The thing that scares me the most is? Death-of my husband, my children, my parents. It totally freaks me out and if I dwell on it send me into a full blown anxiety attack.2. Do you like nuts in your Chocolate Chip cookies? No

3. If you couldn't change the channel, what tv show would drive you from the room? ESPN. My husband has it on, or something else sports-related, all.the.time.

4. Pulp or no pulp in your Orange Juice? No. I don't like the consistency of it.

5. Who do you miss the most? My Dad. Last year we moved to Kansas City from Ohio and I miss seeing him all the time. He's 80 and like I said above, the thought of losing him freaks me out.

Friday, October 14, 2011

It’s Friday which also means it’s BYOC – Bring Your Own Crazy – day around these parts.

From Drazil's Blog five little questions you can copy and paste and answer in your own blog to get to know your fellow bloggers better and to give your blog brain a break!

1. What’s your most favorite noise and your least favorite noise?

Most fave > The ocean

Least fave > Balloons popping

2. If you were a character in the movie Grease – who would you be?

Um, hard one. Probably Marty. Popular but not the homecoming queen. I was a partier and besties with the homecoming queen but definitely had a wild side.

3. What was the name of your best friend in elementary school? Are you still friends?

My childhood bestie was Connie but we moved away and lost touch. I've been BFF's with Lisa, Pam, Ronda and Kristi since middle school though and talk to them all the time on FB and we get together in person a couple of times a year when I get home to Ohio.

4. Who is your current celebrity crush?

I don't really have one but I love love love Kenny Chesney.

5. Repeat question: How was your week in real life and in blog land?

Real life has been good this week. Mini me got her grand slam and MVP award in softball and though I ate like a sow I still lost .8 pounds.

Blogland has been fine, too. I can't believe I'm up to 84 followers and I've started following their blogs as well. I love reading blogs, it starts my day off great.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

I just got home from Jenny Craig and I lost .8 pounds this week. I'm at 2.8 for the month of October and my goal is 5 pounds. My plan this week is to choose healthier options during the softball tournament this weekend and eat my JC food the remainder of the week. I'm going to push the water and once again shoot for exercising at least twice this week.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

From the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans it's True Confessions Tuesday where we confess all of our weight loss and other sins we feel necessary.

I Confess...that my kids have been fighting for 2 weeks. Their fighting stresses me out and then I eat like crap.

I Confess...that last Tuesday night when the fight escalated into a huge blow up that I ate carrot cake. Now carrot cake may sound healthy because well it has carrots in it, but it's supposedly the most fattening cake around. It was so good though.

I Confess...that on Thursday night, as the fighting went on and I wanted to get out of the house and away from my fighting babies kids, that I ate at Red Robin. I had a mushroom and swiss burger with fries because you can't eat at RR and not have a burger and fries, right?

I Confess...that mini me had a softball tournament all weekend and I ate like crap, which I posted about Sunday night. Not one but 2 Panera brownies. WTH was I thinking?

I Confess...that mini me has a softball tournament this weekend and I am determined to eat as healthy as I can. So no Panera brownies.

I Confess...that mini me got a grand slam and game MVP award. I already posted about that too but it's my confession so I can do it again! She rocks.

I Confess...that I have got to get to the true commitment level of this weight loss game and not just interested which I am apparently at now, No brownies or burgers and fries or carrot cake. Again, WTH was I thinking?

I Confess...that I could use some words of wisdom on how you got to the committed phase of your weight loss journey and how you avoid junk in times of stress.

Monday, October 10, 2011

How often do you read/watch the news? Multiple times daily...In the morning, at Noon and then the evening news. I guess that makes me a news junkie.

What is your opinion on beauty pageants? I guess there are pros and cons to them with the cons outweighing the pros. The pros are that the girls get the experience of learning to speak professionally in public and can earn scholarship money. I think the biggest con would be the blow to your self esteem if you lose.

Would you date/marry someone who has different religious views than you? Yes as long as they weren't radically different than mine. I'm a Christian and I married a Christian though he was Catholic and I'm not.

Do you follow politics? Yes, somewhat. I used to be pretty conservative and now find myself a moderate so I declare myself an Independent and find myself voting for the best candidate and not just within a political party.

How often do you talk about sex in your daily life and/or on your blog? Like never.

Does it make you uncomfortable when someone asks you about your salary/income? Does it ever happen? It drives me nuts. My Dad and my Mother-in-Law have both asked over the years. It was bad enough when my own Dad asked but when MIL asked I was pissed.

Do you tag friends and family in pictures that you post on FB, or do you seek permission first? I tag my immediate family without permission...of course if the kids don't like it they untag themselves. I ask before uploading pics of anyone else. My sister-in-law uploaded a picture of me recently and it was horrible-like for real horrible-so I asked her to remove it.

Can you be friends with people who have opposing views on ‘taboo’ topics? Sure as long as they weren't in my face about it.

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions! Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

In my defense I was at the softball fields both days, all day. Mini me had a tournament. The good news is she got a grand slam and the MVP award. The bad news is that I had a Panera brownie on both days. Obviously Panera has healthy choices but no, I got a brownie. If I gain this week it will totally be my fault.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

I lost 2 pounds this week for a total of 13.6 in 11 weeks. Slow and steady wins the race, right? I must admit that after my 22 year old and 12 year old fought like 3 year olds last night I went on a binge. I am such an emotional eater. I knew I was being stupid but did it anyway. My goals this week are the same (stay on plan, make smart choices if eating out, drink tons of water and seriously exercise this week because I still haven't done any in weeks).

So I want to talk about days 9 & 10 of 100 Days of Weight Loss. It's about your support system on your weight loss journey and what you want from them. The "to dos" were to take a quiz about how you want your support system to react/act when you do things like eat junk, gain back some weight, etc and then read your answers to your loved one. And to ask someone you love to compliment you on anything from your weight loss to your hair to your clothes (quote) and then come up with a response to said compliment so you affirm their compliment. Basically so you can practice taking compliments instead of saying things like "yeah but I still have a lot to lose".

Well ladies, I had a really hard time with these exercises. I took the quiz and wrote down my response to a compliment on my weight loss (smile and say "thank you for noticing, it made my day") but I didn't have the nerve to ask anyone for compliments or read to them what I want from them.

What's up with that? Why couldn't I tell my hubby that if he sees me eating junk to ask me if I'm having a bad day? Could you ask your loved ones to compliment you or tell them how you'd like for them to react.act when you do certain things like sabotage yourself?

Monday, October 3, 2011

My mantra for the month of October is COMMITMENT. I chose commitment after reading Day 2 of 100 Days of Weight Loss. As I blogged about last week, the book discusses whether you are committed to weight loss or interested in weight loss. Interest slips away quickly versus commitment that means no matter what.
I also found this quote that fits my mantra perfectly:

~There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permit. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results. ~

(Author Unknown)

I have already faced several issues where I had to decide if I was interested or committed and each time I chose committed. For instance whether to eat a Jenny Craig meal or binge on Oreos. I really wanted the Oreos but committed to weight loss. Yesterday I didn't want to go to church but I forced myself to go because I thank God for putting me on this path to getting healthier and ask him for the strength to be successful.

My goal for October is to lose 5 pounds and I am committed to doing so. I will eat my Jenny Craig meals the majority of the time and make smart choices when eating out. I will continue to incorporate exercise into my routine and I will drink tons of water.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

1. If you were given $1,000,000 that you had to spend ONLY ON YOURSELF....how would you spend the money?

I love this question! First I'd buy a new SUV and a cute sports car. Then I'd buy a new house-bigger than the one we downsized to so I could stay at home and consult part time. I would pay for 2 family vacations-one for the 4 of us and one with my side of the family-this counts because it would bring me great pleasure. Last I would put it in my IRA to live on when I reach retirement age.

2. Who would you say is the one person that's had the most influence on your life? By that, I mean the person that has molded you in to the person you are today.

Hmmm. Well my Dad and Mom both taught me valuable life lessons. My Dad taught me loyalty, dedication, treating people well and having a good work ethic. My Mom taught me how to be generous and a good friend.

3. What is your normal morning routine? Are you a bear in the morning, or is the morning your favorite part of the day?

I'm a morning person. My alarm goes off at 5:50 a.m. and I get mini-me up and moving so she can get ready for school. After taking her to school I come home and get online and tool around for awhile then I get my shower or workout.

4. If you're a Facebook and Twitter user, which do you prefer and why? If you're just a Facebook user, what do you think of the new changes?

I'm a Facebook addict. I need an intervention. I don't use Twitter. I am not fond of the current FB changes but am looking forward to the new timeline that is being rolled out. My son has it ans it's really cool.

5. Repeat Question - Summarize your life in Blogland and in real life.

Blogland has been great this week! I am up to 72 followers and wrote about 100 Days of Weight Loss early in the week. Since then I've noticed a few of my followers referenced my post and it made me feel really good!

Real life has been uneventful. Other than a PTA meeting, a little shopping and taking mini-me for her 12 year check up there's been nothing going on. I'll miss the calm as we have softball tournaments the next 2 weekends then a softball fundraiser the week after that.

Alright, your turn. Post your link in the comments when you're done, so I can read your answers!!